Feliz Cumpleanos!

I just celebrated another year of life. It is always fun to celebrate. I remember being a little kid and the stuff I got was awesome. One year when I turned 3 or 4 my gift was a set of otter pops! You can't beat that for a little kid. I already told you about my Tonka turck. I have also got the usual stuffed animals, cheesy party toys, and the like. Sometimes a birthday gift can change your life though.

One year, and I should mention here that every year thereafter, I received a Lego set. It was for a plane. Thinking back I always built planes. Starting with my first bucket o' bricks I built a simple design using just  5 2x4 bricks for a regular or 7 for a fighter jet. You're probably thinking, "big deal," but actually it was foreshadowing. Today I still build planes and they're flown all over the world... oh, and they're not made of Lego (which doesn't mean that I don't still use Lego to build all sorts of marvelous things! Cuz I do!).

Big goals for a Little Guy!

This is the time for New Years resolutions. It makes me think of goals I've set in the past and how well I've achieved them. A lot of the stuff I set goals for hasn't happened yet. Be a millionaire by age 30? No. Become a chef? No. Own a personal helicopter? No. Ride around in a limo every day? No. But, the goals that I set when I was little kid, that were really important I have accomplished.

I have a page from a writing assignment that I wrote in 1st or 2nd grade that says, "When I grow up I want to be an engineer." I also had other goals: go on a mission, marry in the temple, and graduate from BYU. I set all of those goals before I was 8 years old. I have accomplished all of these goals! It is weird to think that I set those goals at a very young age and actually accomplished them.

There is power in being a little kid and knowing what you want!

Big Red Bike Christmas

One day when I was little my mom left me with a friend to be baby sat. The Jones', I'll call them, had a few boys including a couple near my age or just a little older. I'll always remember Sis. Jones as the lady who insisted that I chew with my mouth closed. I'd say she has made a priceless contribution to my how I live life. That is not this story though. Anyway, when my mom came to pick me up she found me riding one of the older boys bikes around in the street. I was three years old and the bike didn't have training wheels. So my parents decided to get me a bike for Christmas.

I was so excited to see my big red bike on Christmas day! I was allowed to ride it in the house that day and after that I rode it everywhere I could. It was a blast. I loved that bike. My family still has it out in the shed. It has been ridden by all four of my little sisters as they learned to ride a bike.

It turns out my "Big" red bike is actually tiny. Hooray little bikes!

Soft Ears

This isn't  a story about the season at all, but it is funny and I just found it out from my mom via my sister.... When I was a little baby I kept playing with my ears and so my mom thought that something was wrong. She took me to the doctor and said, "I think there is some thing wrong with his ears because he keeps messing with them.

The doctor observed my behavior for a while and then said to my mom, "have you ever felt his ears?... They're really soft!" There was no problem.

Merry Christmas!

A family that my family was close with growing up has a Christmas party every year. They invite a bunch of their friends and there are little foods for everyone. The highlight of the evening is a visit from Santa! Growing up I was pretty convinced that this Santa was the real deal. He had a real beard, a real suit, real boots, and was real merry. He was also the same Santa that came and visited our elementary school. For all I know, he could have been the real Santa. I am however convinced that he was replaced by the Santa who visited our church Christmas party this year though. The new "real" Santa has all the qualities of the afore mentioned Santa except his beard is whiter and perfectly curly. My wife also pointed out that he is perfectly professionally fat! HO! HO! HO!

Little Christmas Villages

There's something spectacular about Christmas decorations that just make you feel good inside. I remember as a little kid we had traditional decorations that hung around our house. There were the funny wooden reindeer holding up garland and colored lights. The special nativity scenes in every corner of the house to remind us of the true meaning of the season. On the tree we had these strange little apple bears that my mom had made. One of my favorite ornaments was a little Cinderella mouse and when you squeezed him he played a Christmas tune. There was also a little man made of salt dough that I had to be reminded not to eat.

I also enjoy seeing the decorations that other people display. One of my mom's friends had a neat little village that she would set up in her living room and we would go look at it. All the little snow covered streets and buildings were lit up and there was a couple skating on the mirror ice. We would also drive around and see how people dressed up their houses with tons of lights. The best treat was going to the grounds of the Mesa Temple and seeing all of the scenes of the nativity set up in life size. The leaves on the trees perfectly compliment the millions of other lights around the beautiful grounds. At the center was Christ, the way it should be. I love this time of year!

Christmas in Idaho

I don't remember my very first Christmas, but I do remember my little sister's. That means that the first Christmas I remember was when I was about 4 years, almost 5, old. We went to Idaho to have a "white" Christmas with my grandparents. I remember thinking it was odd that my grandparents and aunt hung up actual socks for Santa, on a rope in the living room. I woke up really early in the morning and when sneakily up the stairs with my little flashlight. I saw all the good stuff that was laid out. Oh boy, it was impressive. I think I really became and engineer that year because I got my first bucket of Lego and a set of PVC pipes that you could build all sorts of toys with.

As a side note: I do have a picture of another earlier Christmas in Idaho where I was either the baby or the shepherd as we acted out the nativity with the family. I don't actually remember it, but we have pictures.

Also, I am getting on a plane to go home for the holidays right NOW!!!

Christmas Tribute!

With next week being Christmas I thought that I would write some of my memories of Christmas as a little kid. Some of the most exciting events in my life happened around this time of year! I should mention that I'll probably combine some memories of Christmas with memories of my birthday because they are so close together. Sometimes that is how memories work. Hopefully these memories will be distinctly Christmas.

Primary Activity

Today at church we are having a primary activity called "A walk with the prophets" and we are supposed to dress up like ancient people. I don't know how I'm going to accomplish this because I own no ancient garb... not even a bath robe! However this reminded me of when I was little and I was in primary. There was a man who came to our primary dressed as a lamanite. I think he was a native american and he wore some animal skins and had a big staff. He stood on the small table in the primary room and all the lights were off except for one flashlight that someone sprayed on him. He then either recited some dialog or acted to some recording. It was so impressive. I think we were trying to learn the words to "Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus."

The image of a "lamanite prophet" is burned into my memory. I haven't recalled it in a long time, but I'm pretty sure it made an impact on my life. I hope every primary child has some experiences like this one (I don't think it will be me generating it today, though).

Slivers of E.T.

I have a confession to make. I've never seen the movie E.T. all the way through. I think that the longest clip I saw was when I was a little kid and my mom was pulling lots of slivers out of my arm. We had a wooden fence around the outside and I thought I was a clever little daredevil by riding so close to it that the handlebars of my bike would scrape along. The faster I went the more thrilling it got. I kept pushing the limit until the handlebars caught one of the slats and physics sent the side of my arm crashing into some rough wood. I had splinters, like a hundred, all up the side of my forearm. OUCH! I was watching E.T. while my mother did the surgery to remove them with a needle. I wish we had known the elmer's glue trick to getting them out.

First Snow

I saw my first and probably only snow of the season this past week. It was quite heavy as I drove through Virginia and into Tennessee. It reminds me of my first snow as a little kid. I don't think it was my actual first snow, but growing up in the southwest I didn't see too much of the stuff. So this is the story of my most memorable snow occasion, and it is a wonder that I ever played in the snow again (it's not really that bad, keep reading).

So we were in Idaho and there was plenty of snow nicely packed on a perfect hill that was made for winter recreation. The extended family loaded up and we went to the top of the hill. We were fully equipped with sleds and tubes. I was wearing as much winter gear as was available. The specific thing I remember was that I had a pair of waterproof boots. Staying warm is the key to having fun in snow.

We began sledding and on the first trip down I got a little snow in one of my boots. No big deal. I walked to the top of the hill and took of my boot and poured the snow out. Then I stuck my foot back in my boot. However, while I was dumping the boot out I got snow on my sock which then went into my boot. So I took off my boot again and dumped out the snow. This process mingled itself with sledding and very soon my foot was very cold. I still remember the pain of defrosting my frozen toes. So have fun and stay warm!

Back again

Have you ever noticed how everyone's homes smell distinct. I only notice it about my own home when I get home after being gone for a few days. I have a lot of little kid memories that are associated with smells, both good and bad. The smell of home is always a good memory though. Interestingly some smells that repel others bring fond memories to me. For example: sometimes when I'm near a lawn or garden that has been fertilized recently with manure it reminds me of feeding calves my grandpa's farm. I take a minute to soak it in and smile, while others around me are disgusted. I guess I adhere to my great-grandpa's thoughts, "It smells like money!"

Traveling

This week I'm on the road for work. It reminds me of the long road trips that my family would take from the southern desert to the rolling hills of southern Idaho. We usually did it over the course of 2 days. One day took us to my great-grandmother's house and the next day of travel to grandma and grandpa's house. My parents used every trick in the book to keep us entertained on those long trips.

Some of the the things we did: played the alphabet game by trying to find our way through the alphabet on billboards and signs; searching for significant landmarks; learning songs together; coloring books; fruit snacks; and sleeping.

Oh, those were the days. I can't believe I ever made it that far as a kid. I have brave parents. I think I must have spent quite a bit of time sleeping. I bet they were glad when the technology started to help (game boy, tv's in the car, portable music players, etc.)